Alexa Junge

Alexa Junge is an American television writer, producer and screenwriter. Her work on Friends, from 1994 to 1999, earned her nominations for three Emmy Awards.

Personal life

Junge grew up in Los Angeles and attended Barnard College, where she wrote for and performed in the Columbia University Varsity Show with David Rakoff and Jeanine Tesori.{{cite web|title=Alexa Junge|url=https://americanrepertorytheater.org/bio/alexa-junge/|access-date=2021-12-16|publisher=American Repertory Theater|language=en-US}} Junge continued her education at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.{{cite web|title=Alexa Junge - Artist|url=https://www.macdowell.org/artists/alexa-junge|access-date=2021-12-16|publisher=MacDowell|language=en}} A 2001 profile of Junge observed, "For someone who once moved to the East Coast to pursue theater writing, a career in television came as a bit of a surprise."Stack, Vanessa. "Writer's POV" (in feature "Road to the Emmys writers and directors"), Daily Variety, 14 June 2001, 272(9), page not given.

Junge is the granddaughter of screenwriter Marvin Borowsky and has one son, Henry Petrie.{{cite web|date=2017-12-14|title=137: The Book That Changed Your Life|url=https://www.thisamericanlife.org/137/transcript|access-date=2021-12-16|website=This American Life}}

Career

Junge was a writer and producer for Friends from 1994 to 1999, for which she was nominated for three Emmy Awards{{cite web|url=https://www.emmys.com/bios/alexa-junge |title=Alexa Junge - Emmy Awards, Nominations and Wins |publisher=Television Academy |accessdate=2021-12-22}} and a Writers Guild of America Award.{{cite web |url=http://www.wga.org/pr/Awards/2004/nominees.html |title=2004 List of Nominees |publisher=Writers Guild Awards |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040613212257/http://www.wga.org/pr/Awards/2004/nominees.html |archive-date=June 13, 2004}}

Junge wrote the episode "The One Where Everybody Finds Out", which won the National AOL Poll for "All Time Favorite Friends Episode"

Her episode "The One with the Prom Video" was heralded by the authors of Friends like Us: The Unofficial Guide to Friends as "a watershed in the history of the show."Friends like Us: The Unofficial Guide to Friends (November 1998) {{ISBN|978-0753502235}} In 2014, Gawker published a list of every episode of Friends ranked from #236 through #1. "The One With The Prom Video" came in first.{{cite web |last=Donohue |first=Lacey |url=http://rankings.gawker.com/every-episode-of-friends-ranked-1629809447 |title=Every Episode of Friends, Ranked |date=3 September 2014 |publisher=Gawker |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903202143/http://rankings.gawker.com/every-episode-of-friends-ranked-1629809447 |archive-date=September 3, 2014}} It was 100 in the TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time."Special Collector's Issue: 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time". TV Guide June 28–July 4, 1997.

Junge went on to write for Once and Again, Sex and the City,The Dramatists Guild. "Ten questions: Alexa Junge," The Dramatist, Jan/Feb 2017, 14-15. The West Wing (for which she was nominated for one Emmy for production and one WGA Award) as well as Big Love and the BBC comedy Clone. Junge also wrote lyrics for Disney's Mulan 2 and the children's stage version Mulan Jr.,"Season preview 2015-16," American Theatre, October 2015, p. 66. as well as screenplay and lyrics for Disney's Lilo & Stitch 2.

A frequent contributor to National Public Radio's This American Life,{{cite web|url=https://www.thisamericanlife.org/archive?contributor=8796 |title=Alexa Junge |work=This American Life |accessdate=2021-12-22}} Junge performed live for their 2008 "What I Learned From Television" tour.{{cite web|url=https://www.thisamericanlife.org/328/what-i-learned-from-television |title=What I Learned from Television |work=This American Life |date=March 16, 2007 |accessdate=2021-12-22}} She served as executive producer and showrunner for the first season of Showtime's series The United States of Tara;{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/arts/television/11mcdo.html |title='United States of Tara': How to Make a Personality Disorder Into Comedy |work=The New York Times |date=2009-01-11 |accessdate=2021-12-22}} upon her departure Hollywood Reporter noted, "Bringing Friends alumna Junge on board (had been) key to securing a series order for Tara, created by Oscar winner Diablo Cody."Andreeva, Nellie. "[https://www.pressreader.com/usa/the-hollywood-reporter-weekly/20090323/281822869719581 Junge steps aside as Tara topper]," Hollywood Reporter, 409(4), 2009-03-23, page not given. via Press Reader {{subscription required}} Junge subsequently worked on Tilda for HBO with Bill Condon, Alan Poul and John Hoffman, and was the executive producer on Best Friends Forever starring Lennon Parham and Jessica St. Clair for NBC. She also wrote four episodes of the 2015-16 Netflix series Grace and Frankie.{{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3609352/fullcredits|title=Grace and Frankie (TV Series 2015–2022)|publisher=IMDb}}

Junge's play Fingersmith (an adaptation of Sarah Waters' novel) had its world premiere at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in March 2015.{{cite web|last=Verini|first=Bob|date=2016-12-19|title=Regional Theater Review: 'Fingersmith,' Based on the Novel That Inspired 'The Handmaiden'|url=https://variety.com/2016/legit/reviews/fingersmith-review-play-1201945166/|access-date=2021-12-16|website=Variety|language=en-US}} Additional plays and musicals by Junge were produced at the Goodspeed Opera House, Studio Arena Theater, Playwrights Horizons Lab, Theaterworks and developed at New York Stage and Film as well as the MacDowell and Djerassi colonies of Hedgebrook Women Playwrights Festival. Among these productions was the musical Starcrossed: The Trial of Galileo, for which Junge co-wrote the book and lyrics with Keith Levenson.[https://www.nypl.org/research/research-catalog/bib/b18719010 Starcrossed: the trial of Galileo] (theatrical program), New York Public Library Research holdings.